T-shirt Hat Tutorial by At Second Street

I am so excited to be here at UCreate today. My Name is Kalleen from At Second Street. I’m a mother of four who loves to create and design things for my home and family. At Second Street is where I share lots of fun tutorials and ideas that are not only easy but inexpensive.

I especially love making stuff with items I already have. I love finding new life in old things.

Today I wanted to share how to make a stylish hat out of an old t-shirt.

Since soccer started a few weeks ago, I’ve been wanting a new hat to hide my hair in the morning. I have a few hats already, but they are too dark and heavy for spring. I was thrilled when I came up with this solution and it actually worked.

All you need is an old t-shirt. I’ve cut several of my husbands ugly free t-shirts up this last week.

First thing you need to do is cut a long strip 4″ wide though both layer of the shirt. The length will depend on the circumference of your head + an inch for the seam. I cut mine to be 21-1/2″ long. *By cutting through both layers you should have two strips one on top of the other.

Now you have to cut a circle for the top. This involves a little math. Using your circumference you can find the diameter of the circle you’ll need to cut.

c=d x ∏ (3.14)

So for example my circumference was 20.5″ if I divide that by PIE the diameter is ∼6.5″(knit stretches a little so it doesn’t have to be perfect). I added an inch to that as well for my seams. I drew and cut my 7-1/2″ circle using a compass. You could also use a string tied to a pen or find a round object with the same diameter. Again I cut through both layers giving me two rounds, one on top of the other. Once they were cut, I sewed the two together with a 1/4″ seam around the edge.

Next I sewed the two ends of my long strip together with a 1/2″ seam, creating a very thin tube.

Then I pinned the circle to the top of my of my tube, with the seam on the outside.

I sewed around the top with a 1/2″ seam, then flipped it right side out.

I made a pattern for the bill using a hat I already had. You can get the pattern HERE. I cut two layers of the bill and inserted a piece of heavy weight interfacing in between them. I made cut the interfacing to be a little smaller than the bill.

Then I sewed around the edges. I added a few more layers of stitching to make it stronger, and I liked the way it looked.

Next I inserted the bill in between the two layers of the cap. I lined up the middle of the bill with the middle of the font. The bill was about an inch and a half inside the bill when I pinned it in place. *Once it was pinned I looked in the mirror to make sure I liked the length of the bill. You can shorten it or pull it out more till you like it.

Now all that is left to do is sew around the base of the hat.

That’s it for the cap. It only took me 30 minutes to make my first one. I consider myself a basic sewer and I had no problems. I love the look of the raw edges and that I didn’t have to do any hemming.

For my embellishments I added flowers made with the extra pieces. I cut long strips of the knit about 1-1/2 inch thick. I twisted them and then rolled them like a lollipop.

I sewed them together by hand.

And then onto the cap.

Sometimes I get head aches from wearing a hat to long. This one was so comfortable I was able to wear it all day.

This hat is adorable! The tutorial came at the perfect time! My daughter was invited to a “green” birthday party this weekend and this hat will make the perfect gift. Thanks again for such a great idea.

Thanks so much for this awesome hat! I have a big head and hats always are uncomfortable so I made one of these for myself and my daughter and they came out great! I was empowered by your comment that it only took like 30 minutes, so I said “I can do that!”

So this has been in my favorites list since you posted it. I’m just getting around to it. You know, life happens. I made my first one tonight and my two oldest daughters saw the finished product and promptly ordered on of their own. Super cute and easy. Thank you.

My Daughter and I found this over on Childmade and had to have one for a birthday gift – well 4 later I am looking for more shirts. I am a “no headdress wearer” too because of headaches but this doesn’t even feel like it is on my head – thanks for the great tutorial – now where else can I swipe a shirt!….. ohh – maybe change the bill and make a sun hat too… the ideas are spinning……